The USS Saratoga (CV-3) was one of just three United States Navy aircraft carriers—along with USS Ranger (CV-4) and USS Enterprise (CV-6)—to survive the entirety of the Second World War. Although outdated by 1943, as the newer and more capable Essex-cla...
In October 1962, the C.I.A. and the U.S.A.F. requested that Lockheed study a high-speed, high-altitude drone concept for reconnaissance flights over particularly hostile territories to avoid endangering aircrews. Created during the height of the Cold War and following the shootdown of a U-2 spy p...
The USS Hornet (CV-12) stands as one of the most storied aircraft carriers in United States naval history, playing a decisive role in World War II as part of the Essex-class fleet. From its origins as a replacement for the lost USS Hornet (CV-8) to its participa...
MARCH AIR RESERVE BASE, Calif. – In a classroom here, Soldiers learned that on today’s battlefield, even a small drone can present a serious threat. Through small unmanned aircraft systems training, they sharpened the skills needed to identify, report, and respond to emerging aerial dangers. ...
Specialized equipment often reflects very specific mission requirements, and few examples are as niche as the modified Smith & Wesson Model 41 pistols issued for the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird pilot survival kits.
Athlon Optics is adding the Ares HLR to their lineup, and the pitch is simple: a precision riflescope built for hunters who move a lot and count ounces. The lighter of the two available configurations comes in at 18.9 ounces, which puts it firmly in backcountry-viable territory without asking you...
As Bob Dylan once sang, “The times, they are a-changin.” I remember an era where bolt-action pistols were associated mainly with long-range metallic silhouette shooting. Magnum handgun cartridges offered a good amount of up-close knock-down power where steel pigs and rams were concerned, but ...
No one on board the USS Indianapolis (CA-35) knew anything about the cargo they were carrying. What they did know was that the veteran cruiser (launched in 1931) made the trip from San Francisco to the island of Tinian in the Marianas in just ten days. The crew was proud of the “Indy”, and fo...
SNOWMASS, Colo. –  The year was 2021, and U.S. Army Veteran Andrew Carpenter was brimming with contentment. He was building a career as a software account executive and embracing life in the ever-changing, yet illuminated daze of first-time parenthood. Then without warning, everything chan...
Military aircraft design of the Cold War era could be described as akin to physics, or, more specifically, to Newton’s Third Law of motion, which states, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” From lessons learned in the Vietnam War, the United States Air Force determi...